The Justice Department is seeking to bar a Texas tax preparer and an art appraiser who were convicted of a scam involving inflated values of African tribal art for write-offs for charitable donations. The Department of Justice has asked a federal district court in Houston, Texas, to barThe action also seeks to bar Carter's business, the Midwestern Financial Group, and Jarra's African Art Appraisal business.
According to the complaint, Carter promoted a tax evasion scheme by providing his clients appraisals from Jarra that substantially overvalued art.
The government said clients were provided with forms from the Internal Revenue Service which included forged acknowledgments of the receipt of art by educational institutions and museums. Carter then used the bogus appraisal to prepare returns and claim deductions for charitable donations.
In 2014, Carter was sentenced for 41 months in prison on five counts of willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false tax returns. In 2013, Jarra pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false tax returns; he received a sentence of probation.
